An Ordinary Girl
by buduica
Summary: Becky is an ordinary, extraordinary girl.


**An Ordinary Girl**  
_by aishuu_

* * *

Becky wants to be a Disney princess, just like most ordinary little girls. The only thing that makes her exceptional is that she never really grows out of that phase.

She grows up watching the films (first on VHS tapes which took her weeks to learn to use, then later a DVD player which took even longer to figure out). She likes the musical numbers and the bright colors, but what she really likes is the happily ever after the princesses all get, and the handsome princes they find it with.

Belle's her favorite, because Belle is misunderstood by everyone around her, and no one except her father believes she's anything but weird. There's no such thing as a Disney princess with a disability, since Disney princesses are always perfect, but Belle is weird so she's as close as Becky can get to a role model.

Along with growing up on Disney musicals and Hannah Montana, her mother makes sure she watches reruns of _Life Goes On._ It's a weekend tradition in the Jackson family, with her mother making cheesy popcorn and treating her to diet soda as they curl up together on the couch. Her mother keeps pointing at Corky, and giving her long lectures on how Chris Burke is a wonderful actor and that Becky, too, can do anything she wants.

Becky listens, because she loves her mother, but she doesn't agree. The tapes are older than Becky is, and she thinks Zac Efron is way cuter than Chris Burke, who has to be ancient anyway. Just because she's special doesn't mean she has to like other special people, right? But it's hard to find other people with Down Syndrome on TV or in the movies, so she gets why her mother is the number one fan of that show.

She understands that some things will never happen. She'll never be the most popular girl in school – that's Quinn Fabray, who is way, way prettier than she is. Sometimes Becky will look into the mirror and wish that she looked more like her friend Brittany, but Ms. Pillsbury always encourages her to be proud of who she is.

Becky is a teenage girl, an ordinary teenage girl. She may have Down Syndrome, but she knows that a lot of her classmates have their own problems. Brittany wouldn't pass a single math test if Becky didn't let her copy her papers, and Santana Lopez never eats anything without throwing up later. Even Quinn, who is so, so cool for being the Cheerios captain, has lots of problems. Becky hasn't figured out how the president of the Celibacy Club can be pregnant, since don't you have to have sex to have babies? That's how they explained it in health class, and Becky had gotten an A on that test.

She knows that sometimes she doesn't understand what other people are talking about. It bothers her when someone makes a joke she knows is about her, but she keeps smiling because getting upset won't change anything. Besides, sometimes good things happen after someone make fun of her: the one time that jerk Karofsky had called her the R-word, Finn Hudson himself had slammed him into the locker before making him apologize. The only thing that would have made that even better was Finn asking her on a date because he secretly liked her.

Becky is an ordinary girl, and wants to fall in love. She has crushes on the guys in school (hello, Finn, and Puck is _very_ handsome and he helped her pick up her books once when she dropped them, so who cares if he's a manwhore?), but all of them treat her like a little kid. Sometimes she gets frustrated that they're only going to see her as cute like a puppy. She wants to have her Disney moment, and she would love to have a prince take her out on the perfect date. She can settle for that, since happily ever after may be too much to ask for.

She is not used to thinking about what she can't do. Sure, it may take her longer to figure things out, and she may not be as coordinated as her friends, but she's relatively happy. No one's ever thrown a slushie at her, and almost everyone is nice to her. Her mother is right, because although she is different, it doesn't mean she can't do most of what the other girls do.

So Becky's not the least bit nervous when she writes her name on the sign-up sheet for the Cheerios halfway through her sophomore year. She wants to spend more time around Brittany, and she's been working hard on learning to jump rope. The worst thing that can happen is that the coach will yell at her. But Coach Sylvester yells at everyone, so that would be fine.

At the tryouts, she does her best to jump rope for Coach Sylvester, who watches her without saying a word. She trips a couple of times on the rope, and knows that she's not going to make it. Coach Sylvester insists that the Cheerios be perfect. But she keeps going, because she's not going to stop. She will not be a person who gives up on what she wants.

When Coach Sylvester tells her that she's made the squad, she feels better than she ever has in her life. She grins at the teachers before skipping out of the room. Everyone had said Coach Sylvester was a mean, horrible person, but maybe she's like the Beast in the Disney film. If Becky treats her well, good things could happen. There is no way Coach Sylvester is going to be her prince (because not only is she old, she is a _she_), but she might be able to help Becky find a happily ever after. Becky doesn't _need_ a prince, although she wouldn't say no should Finn Hudson finally realize she's the right girl for him.

Becky knows that Disney stories don't come true, but sometimes real life can be wonderful. If she can't be a princess, she'll at least be a Cheerio. In McKinley, that's even _better_ than being a princess.


End file.
